Pillar 3a: New Beneficiary Regulation from 2027

As of August 2026, by Lukas Bachmann & Alessandrina Gull, innoVorsorge AG

On 12 June 2026, the Federal Council amended three ordinances on retirement pension. Two of them concern pension funds and run in the background for you. The third affects you directly as soon as you have a pillar 3a account and are married, live in a registered partnership or have children: From 1 June 2027, you can decide yourself that your children or your life partner will participate in your 3a savings alongside your spouse. Today, the ordinance excludes this. We show you what currently applies, what's new and what you can do by then.

The most important points at a glance

• Today, the spouse or registered partner receives the entire 3a savings. Children only benefit if there is no spouse.

• From 1 June 2027, you can move children, life partners and other people from rank 2 into the first rank and set the shares yourself.

• Protection clause: Every beneficiary in ranks 1 and 2 receives at least 10 percent. An exclusion is not possible.

• If you do nothing, everything stays as it is. You report the change in writing to your 3a foundation, not in your will.

What it's about: Who gets your 3a savings when you die

Your pillar 3a savings do not belong to your estate. They are not distributed according to a will or inheritance law, but according to a fixed order set out in Article 2 of the BVV 3 ordinance. Experts call this the beneficiary order. It knows five ranks:

1. Spouse or registered partner
2. Children (direct descendants), life partners after at least five years of shared household, people who provide for shared children, and people you have supported substantially
3. Parents
4. Siblings
5. Other heirs

The rule behind it is simple: The first rank in which someone stands receives the entire savings. All subsequent ranks come away empty-handed. If you are married, your spouse receives everything, even if you have children from a previous relationship who are still minors or in education. Today, you can only arrange within rank 2 (how much children and partners receive) and the order of ranks 3 to 5. You cannot change anything at the top of the list.

The Federal Council investigated this problem at the instigation of the Nantermod postulate (22.3220) and noted in 2024 that patchwork families are poorly served by the current rule. The ordinance amendment of 12 June 2026 implements this.

What's new from 1 June 2027

The change concerns paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 2 BVV 3 and can be summarised in three points.

First: People from rank 2 may move up to rank 1. You can place your children, your life partner or another person from rank 2 on the same level as your spouse. This works for a single person or for several. You can also move just one of two children forward and leave the other in rank 2.

Second: You set the shares, with a lower limit of 10 percent. If several people are in the same rank, you determine who receives how much. If you determine nothing, it is divided per head (three people in the first rank: one third each). New is a protection clause: Nobody in ranks 1 or 2 may be set to less than 10 percent of the savings. An exclusion through the back door (e.g. 1 percent for the spouse) is thus explicitly forbidden. This lower limit does not apply to ranks 3 to 5.

Third: If you do nothing, nothing changes for you. The standard order remains. Without your written notification to the 3a foundation, the spouse continues to receive everything. The rank change is an option, not an obligation. And it only works from rank 2 to rank 1: you cannot move parents or siblings past the spouse.

Table: Beneficiary order today vs. new

Beneficiary order pillar 3a: today and from 1 June 2027

	Today (until 31.05.2027)	From 01.06.2027
1. Spouse, registered partner	Always receives 100%, as soon as present	New: plus people from rank 2 you upgrade. Shares free, min. 10% per person
2. Children, life partners (5 years), supported persons	Only if no spouse; shares freely selectable	Can be raised to rank 1 individually or in groups; min. 10% per person
3. Parents	Order of ranks 3 to 5 changeable	Unchanged, no 10% rule
4. Siblings
5. Other heirs

Source: Art. 2 BVV 3 (current version) and ordinance amendment of 12.06.2026 (Art. 2 paragraphs 2 and 3 BVV 3, in force from 01.06.2027).

The Federal Council gives providers around a year to adapt their regulations and have them approved by the Federal Tax Administration. That is why the rule only applies from 1 June 2027 and not already from August 2026 like the other changes.

Timeline of the ordinance amendments

Date	Change
12.06.2026	Federal Council decides the amendments to BVV 2, BVV 3 and FZV
01.08.2026	13th AHV pension exempt from the 85% limit; repo transactions for pension funds allowed on a limited basis
December 2026	First payment of the 13th AHV pension
01.06.2027	New beneficiary order pillar 3a; 10% lower limit also for vested benefits accounts
01.01.2030	Formal adjustment for partial liquidations of pension funds (Swiss GAAP FER 26)

Three situations in which something changes

Your situation	Today (until 31.05.2027)	Possible from 01.06.2027
Married, two children from a previous relationship	Spouse 100%	For example spouse 50%, child A 25%, child B 25%
Married, two joint children	Spouse 100%	For example spouse 80%, child A 10%, child B 10%
Cohabiting for over five years, joint children, not married	Partner and children share rank 2, you set the shares	Partner alone in rank 1: receives 100%. Or children in rank 1 with fixed shares
Single, no children, no partner	Parents, then siblings, then other heirs; order changeable	Unchanged

Example: How the split could look new

Married, two children from a previous relationship

• Today: Spouse 100%
• From 06/2027: 50% / 25% / 25%

Married, two joint children (example from the BSV)

• Today: Spouse 100%
• From 06/2027: 80% / 10% / 10%

Spouse / Child A / Child B

The shares are freely selectable. The only limit: at least 10% per beneficiary in ranks 1 and 2.

The second example comes from the explanatory report of the Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV): A married father named his wife as sole beneficiary in 2020. In 2027, he raises his two children to the first rank and assigns 80 percent to his wife and 10 percent to each child. Less than 10 percent per child would not be permitted.

For scale: In 2023, the average 3a capital withdrawal at retirement was CHF 49,381 for men and CHF 41,772 for women (source: FSO, cited in the explanatory report). In the event of death before retirement, the savings are usually smaller. However, anyone who pays in the maximum amount over years (2026: CHF 7,258 with a pension fund, CHF 36,288 without; since 2025 also with catch-up payments) quickly reaches six-figure amounts. Then it makes a difference whether a child from a first marriage receives 0 or 25 percent of it.

What you concretely need to do

The beneficiary designation belongs to the 3a foundation, not in a will. You notify the bank, insurance company or pension foundation in writing who you designate as beneficiary, in which rank and with what share. Whether a designation via will is valid is disputed among lawyers; the BSV therefore recommends reporting the names directly to the 3a provider. This applies to each of multiple 3a accounts individually.

Existing designations remain valid. What you determined before 1 June 2027 continues to apply. As soon as you change the split after this date, new law applies including the 10% lower limit. The foundations must adapt their regulations and inform you; if you hear nothing in summer 2027, an inquiry is worthwhile.

Vested benefits accounts run in parallel. There, the rank change was already possible before; new is that the 10% lower limit also applies in the first two ranks (Art. 15 paragraph 3 FZV, also from 1 June 2027). The pension fund itself is not affected; there, your fund's regulations continue to apply.

Keep taxes and compulsory portions in mind. Capital benefits from pillar 3a are taxed for the beneficiaries separately from other income at a reduced rate; the amount depends on the canton of residence and the amount. If you distribute the savings among several people, the progression per person usually decreases. Under inheritance law, the 3a savings do not fall into the estate, but can be counted when calculating compulsory portions. Anyone redistributing larger amounts should coordinate beneficiary designation, marriage contract and will (see also our article on matrimonial property regime and protection in an emergency).

Checklist until June 2027

1. List all 3a accounts and vested benefits accounts. 2. Check which beneficiary designation is currently stored per account. 3. Consider who would economically depend on the money after your death. 4. From June 2027, store the desired split in writing with the provider and align it with your will or marriage contract.

The two other changes, briefly explained

13th AHV pension and the 85% limit (from 1 August 2026). For salaries above CHF 90,720 (upper BVG limit 2026), an adequacy rule applies: pension fund pension and AHV pension together may not exceed 85 percent of the last AHV salary. If the 13th AHV pension were included in this calculation, the limit could be exceeded, and the fund would have to reduce its benefits. That is exactly what the initiative did not want. Therefore, the 13th old-age pension is explicitly excluded from the calculation. For you this means: The 13th AHV pension, which will be paid out for the first time in December 2026, will not lead to a reduction in your pension fund benefits.

Repo transactions for pension funds (from 1 August 2026). Pension funds hedge their foreign currency investments and need short-term cash in times of strong currency fluctuations. New: they may temporarily pledge securities against liquidity – a maximum of 1 percent of assets for general liquidity management, a maximum of 3 percent for at most 30 days for currency hedging, without a permanent leverage. This is only relevant for large funds. As an insured person, you notice nothing directly; at best, your fund's hedging costs decrease slightly.

In addition, there are two formal corrections: In the event of divorce, the savings to be divided accrue interest until the initiation of divorce proceedings (instead of until the judgement), and from 2030, the partial liquidation rules of pension funds use the terminology of Swiss GAAP FER 26.

Conclusion

The new beneficiary order is a step towards more self-determination, with a clear guardrail: spouses and children remain protected with at least 10 percent. Whether you want to make use of it depends on your family situation, your matrimonial property regime and the size of your 3a savings. We advise independently, without commissions and without our own 3a products. If you want to know how the change interacts with your will, your marriage contract and your 3a accounts, we will look at it together.

Want to know what it concretely means for your situation?

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the beneficiary order of pillar 3a?

The legal order in which your 3a savings are paid out in the event of death (Art. 2 BVV 3). It knows five ranks: spouse or registered partner, then children and life partners, then parents, siblings and other heirs. The first occupied rank receives the entire savings.

Can I already name my children as beneficiaries alongside my spouse today?

No. If you are married or in a registered partnership, the partner receives the entire savings today. Only from 1 June 2027 can you raise children or life partners to the first rank and set shares.

When does the new rule apply?

From 1 June 2027. The Federal Council decided it on 12 June 2026; providers need around a year to adapt and have their regulations approved.

Can I completely exclude my spouse?

No. Beneficiaries in ranks 1 and 2 are entitled to at least 10 percent of the savings. A share of 1 or 5 percent is not permitted. No lower limit applies to ranks 3 to 5.

What happens if I do nothing?

Then the previous order continues to apply: spouse first, then children and life partners. You must actively use the new flexibility and store it in writing with your 3a foundation, bank or insurance company.

Does this also apply to vested benefits accounts and the pension fund?

For vested benefits accounts, the rank change was already possible before; new from 1 June 2027 is the 10% lower limit (Art. 15 paragraph 3 FZV). The pension fund is not affected; there, your fund's regulations apply.

What changes for me because of the 13th AHV pension?

The 13th AHV pension will be paid out from December 2026 and has not counted towards the 85% limit in the pension fund since 1 August 2026. Your pension fund benefits will therefore not be reduced.

Sources

• Federal Council, media release "Ordinance adjustments in the 2nd and 3rd pillar", 12.06.2026: admin.ch
• BSV, explanatory report "Ordinance on the amendment of various ordinances in the area of occupational pension 2026", June 2026: PDF, ordinance texts and explanations
• BSV, report on the results of the consultation BVV 2 / BVV 3, June 2026: PDF
• Ordinance BVV 3, Art. 2, current version: fedlex.admin.ch
• Nantermod postulate 22.3220 "BVV 3. More flexibility in succession planning": parlament.ch